The present invention relates to basketball apparatus and, more particularly, to a basketball apparatus that teaches basketball players to improve their shooting accuracy when shooting backboard shots from any location on the basketball court.
In the game of basketball, the coaches spend a great deal of time contemplating the talents and dichotomy of the players to assemble a good team, game plans specifically tailored toward capitalizing on the strengths of these players, and strategies to execute these game plans depending upon the opponent. All this effort is exerted to produce a winning team. However, this effort becomes futile and, winning impossible, if the players do not execute their shots with accuracy and, thereby, score points for the team.
A good basketball player will spend, either under his or her own initiative or under the coach""s direction, a great deal of time practicing shooting. During practicing, the player will repeatedly shoot from the same location on the basketball court until he or she begin to continually make the shot from this location. The player may shoot the basketball directly into the basketball hoop or shoot the basketball to an area on the backboard such that the basketball will bank off the backboard into the basketball hoop. In either instance, the basketball player will shoot the shot from this location until the player is comfortable with the amount of energy to initiate the shot and is assured of the trajectory and aim that will achieve a successful shot. In fact, U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,257 to Palmer entitled xe2x80x9cApparatus For Practicing Basketball Throwsxe2x80x9d is an apparatus that a basketball player can use to practice this same shooting technique when the player is unable to do so on the actual basketball court. The problem with this practicing philosophy and the patent is that there is no discemable method, other than by trial and error, by which to train a player to shoot a successful shot from this location or from any other location on the basketball court. Regardless of the location on the basketball court, there are an infinite number of trajectories and speeds that the basketball may travel to make a basketball shot. For each location, this trajectory and speed of the basketball may be directed straight into the basketball hoop or bounced off the backboard into the basketball hoop. For basketball shots bounced off the backboard, there is a correct location on the backboard which will produce a perfect, successful shot given each location, trajectory, and speed. With any variation from that correct location on the backboard, the shot will not be a perfect shot but may or may not be a success if: (1) the basketball barely missed hitting the basketball rim and entered the basketball hoop to score points, or (2) the basketball hit the basketball rim and entered into the basketball hoop to score points, or (3) the basketball hit the basketball rim and did not enter into the basketball hoop, thereby, not scoring points, or (4) the shot may completely miss the basketball hoop altogether, resulting in what is commonly termed an xe2x80x9cair ballxe2x80x9d shot. Thus, there is a need and there has never been disclosed a target bulls eye which will eliminate the guessing associated with making successful backboard basketball shots from anywhere on the basketball court.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a basketball apparatus that teaches basketball players to improve their shooting accuracy when shooting backboard shots. A related object of the present invention is to teach basketball players this improvement of shooting accuracy from any location on the basketball court.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a basketball apparatus that is equally useful for basketball players of all heights.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a basketball apparatus that is light weight and portable.
Still another related object of the present invention is to provide a quality basketball apparatus that is inexpensive to manufacture.
Another object of the invention is to provide a basketball apparatus that is safe and easy to use.
Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The present invention is a basketball apparatus that provides a target bulls eye to teach basketball players to make the perfect basketball shot when shooting backboard shots from any location on the basketball court. The basketball apparatus consists of a backboard, a basketball hoop and a supporting bracket located in front of the backboard, and a target bulls eye located behind the backboard. The target bulls eye consists of a contrasting top portion and bottom portion to isolate a centerpoint. Upon shooting, if the user aims towards the centerpoint and shoots the basketball in the proper trajectory to engage the centerpoint, the basketball, on this trajectory toward the centerpoint, would engage the backboard at a perfect reflection point and, thereby, bounce off the backboard towards the basketball hoop to obtain the perfect basketball shot.